China-Issued RMB AMEX Credit Cards Cannot Add AMEX Offers, but the Older USD Cards Still Can

As we mentioned earlier, AMEX initially allowed China-issued AMEX single-network and dual-network credit cards to register for the Shop Small offer, and later opened things up completely: most AMEX offers can now be added through AMEX Connect. However, I suspected at the time that the RMB version of AMEX credit cards would not be eligible. To test this, I applied for an RMB-denominated AMEX credit card from Ping An Bank — the Yaohong Card (see here).

After testing, it turns out that RMB AMEX credit cards indeed cannot add any AMEX offers, including Shop Small, and will return an error when you try. Meanwhile, the USD versions of China-issued AMEX single-network and dual-network credit cards can still use AMEX Connect to add US AMEX offers. I opened several of them, and was able to enroll in Shop Small without even activating the cards. Going forward, more China-issued AMEX cards will likely be converted fully to RMB versions, so the existing single-network and dual-network USD cards are actually quite valuable. If you catch a good AMEX offer, the upside can be substantial.

Ping An, SPD Bank, Minsheng, and China Merchants Bank all combine credit inquiries internally. If you think you might occasionally get some value from AMEX offers, you may want to consider opening a few USD-version credit cards. Both single-network and dual-network cards are OK.